Monday, February 18, 2019

Snowbird Series Part 4/4 - George Washington Birthday Regatta (Lake Eustis)

The George Washington Birthday Regatta at Lake Eustis was held this past weekend and was the fourth and final regatta of the new Snowbird Series.  This entire series was an exceptional experience and I'm definitely hoping to do it again next year.   Lake Eustis was a blast with 37 Flying Scot teams racing.  Representing the Midwest District were Michael Faugust and Jennifer Ikeda with a solid 7th place finish.  Well done!  Ryan and Stacey not only raced but helped Tyler Andrews with a sailing clinic on Thursday and Friday and even donated a free jib to the cause.  Rick Wojnar crewed for me for the second regatta in a row.  I arrived on Friday night around 6:30 and Rick was already waiting after making the drive himself because he has plans to windsurf for an an extra week after the regatta.





The temperature was 72 degrees at the club  upon arrival and I received an immediate text informing me people were already hanging out the Oyster Troff, a fun Friday Night tradition at the George Washington Birthday Regatta.  Hanging out with friends is one of the key attractions to these large regattas.   I got to catch up with Jody Smith (Dallas Corinthian) and Obie Smith (Miami).  I finally put it together they were brothers because nothing gets by me (sarcasm).


Sailing on Saturday was awesome with 8-12mph wind that jumped to 11-15 in the second race with some larger gusts.  Racing with 37 boats with racers of that caliber is exciting and humbling.  Rick and I sailed very well with solid starts, but couldn't keep up with the front of the pack for one bad decision or another.  Things got a little exciting between the second and third races when a distress call came over the radio.   A boat had capsized and Rick and I responded and could tell that a couple older gentlemen needed immediate help.  After hearing, "Go get 'em", Rick jumped into the lake (without hesitation) and helped one of the sailors get their feet untangled from their sheet.  Panic quickly turned to relief and Rick proceeded to help the race committee right the boat as it was completely turtled.  To say that the race committee and fellow racers were appreciative of Rick's help would be a huge understatement.  Super proud of Rick!   Three cheers for Rick!  Thanks for being awesome.  By the way, Lake Eustis is infested with alligators.


(Rick at the Tampa Regatta)




After three long races and a 45-minute rescue effort, Rick was exhausted.  I was exhausted because the night before (Friday night) some rowdy drunks were looking for trouble and woke me up at 2:30am before my hangover from the Oyster Troff even had a chance to set in.  These guys were belligerent and shouting and taunting the people sleeping in camper row.   I was one of those people and decided to go out to introduce myself.   After some snarky remarks from the troublemakers looking for a confrontation, I just kept being nice and maintained friendly conversation as if nothing was wrong before they finally realized they weren't going to get under anyone's skin.  When I told them I am from Champaign-Urbana, the snarky guy proudly said he was from Chicago and pointed to his White Sox shirt.  I laughed because things suddenly made a lot sense.  Turns out these guys were parents of kids who were sailing at the regatta!  Ha!   I thought about telling him my go-to White Sox joke (see joke at bottom of post) that seemed applicable given the situation, but I held my course and decided it was not a good idea to escalate the situation.   As a die hard cubs fan, this is not the first obnoxious White Sox fan looking for a confrontation that I’ve encoutered and will probably not be the last.  I just didn't expect to run into one at a Florida regatta where everyone is always so nice.  What are the odds you find a jerk in Florida and he happens to be from Illinois?  Ha!  I struggled to get back to sleep.  Later on Sunday morning I happened to notice the troublemaker’s truck was listing to starboard.  The poor guy had a flat tire.


Racing on Sunday was also great!   It was glass (no wind) when we woke up in the morning and outlook looked questionably light, but finally filled in just enough to have two good races.   After patiently waiting out a postponement as the wind stabalized, racers were eager to get back to racing.  So eager, in fact, that we had two general recalls and were shown the black flag in both the third and fourth race to contain our enthusiam.  It's the first time I've ever raced with the black flag shown.  Luckily, we had three bad starts and five good ones during the regatta, with all three bad starts being a general recall.  Sometimes things go your way.  Rick and I almost finished in the top 10 in the last race.  A key highlight is that we were racing with Zeke Horowitz up the right side on the first leg of the second race. We passed him and rounded the windward mark in front of him in the top five.  Zeke is one of the three finalists for the Rolex Yachtman of the Year Award.   So yes, we didn’t stay in front of him for very long, but that was still cool.  It was very nice to finish the regatta and the Snowbird Series with a solid finish that we can carry with us to the Sarasota Midwinters.  I feel Rick and I are becoming more competitive as a team and we have good chemistry so I'm optimistic we can continue to improve.  

At the awards ceremony, Jay Horowitz pointed out that that among the five trophy winners were two father and son teams, a husband wife team, a father daughter team, and then there was John Kreidler and his partner Joe Brake.   Jay is a jokester (John and Joe aren't partners) and John and Joe finished an impressive third and I'm super happy for them for having such a great regatta.   To Jay's original point, the Flying Scot is a family-friendly boat with a very competitive and deep fleet of racers. 


Looking forward to Midwinters...


Oh yeah, here's that White Sox Joke:

A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Chicago White Sox fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they were White Sox fans, too.
Not really knowing what a White Sox fan was, but wanting to be like their teacher, hands explode into the air. There is, however, one exception. A girl named Mary has not gone along with the crowd.
The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different. "Because I'm not a Cubs fan."
"Then," asks the teacher, "what are you?"
"Why I'm proud to be a Chicago Cubs fan.", boasts the little girl.
The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Mary why she is a Cubs fan.
"Well, My Dad and Mom are Cubs fans, and I'm a Cubs fan, too!"
The teacher is now angry. "That's no reason," she says loudly. "What if your mom was a hooker, and your dad was a hoodlum, What would you be then?"
A pause, and a smile. "Then," says Mary, "I'd be a White Sox fan."